Strategy in TECH...
In a revealing presentation with the press yesterday in Japan, embattled Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai told the media that the company is finally ready to consider alternatives for its TV, A/V, and smartphone businesses, including exiting them. This is a stunning turnaround in strategy, not just for the inventor of the Trinitron picture tube, but for Hirai himself who had previously identified their TV and smartphone businesses as a core categories when he first took over as CEO in 2012.
New market data confirms what you probably already suspected, South Korea is the #1 supplier of TV products to the world. Home to both Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, S. Korean media is calling itself the ‘Country of TV.’
A San Francisco TV station KPIX news crew inadvertently ran across a mysterious blue minivan with an odd assortment of cameras and technology affixed to the top. The purpose of this van was not obvious…nor was the owner, as it was completely unmarked. But the intrepid KPIX reporters traced the van and discovered it was leased to…Apple.
Planar Systems, Inc. announced today that it will show a new transparent OLED technology this month at Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) 2015 this month. Calling themselves “a pioneer in this next wave of transparent display” Planar will show what looks to be an impressive 55″ prototype display with stunning OLED image on a transparent screen.
“Sharp has fallen on hard times again,” declared an at times shocking report in the Nikkei this week. The statement comes in the wake of the company announcing on Tuesday that, rather than their forecast of a profit for the current fiscal year, the company will in fact book a net loss. And this disappointing news will almost certainly drive the call for a much more drastic restructuring than has been accomplished in the past – with the company reportedly considering pulling out of the television business in North America altogether.
Toshiba Corp. announced late yesterday that it has decided to exit the TV business in all export markets, including North America. The move shocked some, but those who follow the trends in the TV business were not surprised at all as Japanese manufacturers have struggled to maintain viability in a low profitability category with declining demand.
We have learned today that Kaleidescape has appointed well-known industry veteran Mark Weisenberg as Kaleidescape’s new Vice President of Sales. Weisenberg replaces former VP of Sales Buzz Goddard, who left the company this past December.
Two rather significant news stories emerged today – one about Apple’s amazing Q1 fiscal results and the other about Sony’s troubled mobile division – and we couldn’t help but notice an incredible irony. In a way, it’s almost a tale of two CE industries.
Sharp Corp. this week began warning the media and, through them, investors that it is likely to miss its forecasts for revenues and profits for the fiscal year set to end March 31, 2015…and miss big. Just days after the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas where Sharp excitedly showed a large roster of new products, the company is hinting that it may have to take extraordinary steps to stem a newly expected tide of red ink.
OmniMount, part of Ergotron…which is part of Nortek…showed a new product concept at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas earlier this month at their private, invitation-only booth. The product is a new concept home product…potentially a real solution to some of the more modern emerging home storage issues. Called the WorkSpace Wall Organizer, will this solution find its say onto the wall in your home?
